Startup Hopes to Power the Next-Generation of Educational Apps

Always a hot topic, the nation’s education system has gained more attention with election coverage this year as an industry in need of change. One startup, Clever, hopes to help the education system by providing tools to update and automate the system’s antiquated technology. Clever gathers important information about students like grades, attendance, etc. and packages this real-time data into an accessible application programming interface (API) for third-party developers. These verified developers will then be able to build useful apps for teachers to explore the data in new ways.

Business Insider had a chance to meet with cofounder Tyler Bosmeny, who started the company with friends at the Silicon Valley startup incubator, Y Combinator:

Dan, Raf and I were all best friends at Harvard. I studied applied math, Dan was biology, Raf was computer science and applied math. After we graduated we all went in different directions. Dan went into a school district, and over time was promoted to become director of technology for that district. He realized it was insanely difficult to use technology in the classroom. Everyone says, “Why hasn’t technology transformed technology like it has for every other industry?” Technology was creating more work for teachers, and not less.

As soon as a school has Clever up and running, they can access various apps built by trusted third-party developers and see their class performance levels. The startup provides the API to developers who are otherwise frustrated with how application programming interfaces are deployed within the education industry. Clever is completely automated, so teachers do not have to worry about incessantly updating software. Clever is currently being used in more than 1,000 schools.